The Washington Monument at sunset

[manitou]

I've been wanting to post a picture of the Washington Monument I saw a few months back - but I'm unable to find again.

 

The picture was taken from the FAR END of the reflecting pool. The sun, as it was setting, was directly aligned with the very top point of the monument; this was reflected in the reflecting pool as well. What resulted was an equidistant reflected image in the pool - half above, half below, with the sun at the peak of each reflection.

 

Picture a barbell, only with two bright suns at the terminal ends.

 

It seems to me that this is a perfect metaphor for whatever you want to call it: inner alignment, merger of physical man with his god nature, enlightenment, self realization. What it seems to show, to me, is that the amount of inner work we need to do for self realization is the same dynamic as the outer work - the study, the internalization of the Words of Others.

 

When I first saw that picture, it struck me hard - like being kicked in the chest. At the time I saw the picture, I had just finished the Time magazine work-up on George Washington. It specifically mentioned in the piece that Mr. Washington was of the opinion that god was an "impersonal one". If anyone's read the Impersonal Life, this is the very mindset that is of the Tao - that the rain falls equally upon everyone and doesn't much care if that person is you or someone else. This belief is so very far, if this is truly the case, from the ideation that the Tea Partiers have ascribed to our founding fathers.

 

Throw in the fact that Washington and the other founders were Masons (and I guessing that the 33rd degree just has to be the I AM consciousness - what else could it be?), this certainly provides a template for their ideas to reflect the separation of 'church' and state (I'm assuming here that the concept of 'church' may have been somewhat distasteful to Washington and the others as well).

 

I think the founding fathers knew good and well Who We Really Are. I think the religious right, who see through the lenses of what they want to see and hear, will always err on the side of thinking church and state should be merged. It is only after the dualism is seen through and punctured (and they stop that infernal singing of Jesus Loves Me This I Know) that the merger of man and his god-nature can occur.

 

I'll keep looking for that photo. There are plenty of the Washington monument at sunset, but without the reflecting pool alignment - like everybody's missing the point!

[manitou]

Bumpin' my own topic. Maybe someone'll bite?

[Apech]

Have you found the photo? Is it online?

[Brian]

Bumpin' my own topic. Maybe someone'll bite?

 

I like your topic, manitou, and I'm hoping you'll find the photo!

 

My personal exploration into Washington and into the founders as a group has been very rewarding. They were largely a highly informed and thoughtful bunch with most of them being deeply spiritual and they were much more complex individuals than the cardboard cut-outs either "wing" would like to portray them as having been. Many were graduates of divinity schools but there was very little "bible-thumping" going on (daily prayer was a different matter).

[manitou]

Yes - it was online, but I don't know where.

 

The synchronistic thing about the Washington Monument is that the darn thing is sinking.

 

I'll take another foray today on the twitterbox and see if I can find it again. it was really astounding - I can't believe I can't find it.

Edited June 7, 2012 by manitou

[manitou]

I finally gave up and just drew the thing. I've never tried to attach anything before - hope it works.

[manitou]

What an idiot I am on the computer. Sorry for the gigantic picture when you click on it. I think I shoulda cropped --

[Apech]

Ah right ... that's how Egyptian obelisks are suppose to be ... with the sun on the point. All goes back to the creation myth. A mound or stone called the Benben emerges from the infinite waters of the void (called the Nun) and as it does so the sun rises over it. It is a recreation of the zep tawy - first time - the moment when the perceived world comes into existence ... as in 'let there be light'. the sun is Ra of course. All pyramids and temple in Egypt were recreations of this scene.

[Apech]

Like this

 

 

[manitou]

Absolutely - just like that. When I first saw the reflection of the sun at both ends, it hit me hard that that was so similar to the spiritual condition - it takes an equal amount of inner work (the obelisk in the reflecting pool) to match the outer work (standing obelisk). The sun aligned at both ends is like the candle that lights the birthday cake. It ignites us with passion and inner knowledge; it aligns man's mind with the mind of god, our highest self.

 

If indeed Washington (and assumedly the others) saw an impersonal god as the Source, perhaps more in a Masonic way than a Presbyterian dual perception, then what an incredible beginning we had. And how poignant it is that the monument is indeed sinking, saying so much more than the physical act itself. I know the Masonic symbols were utilized in the design of the District of Columbia, but I've never done much deeper reading on this.

 

Perhaps they were truly enlightened ones. The understanding of an impersonal, non-judgmental 'force' is the very same as the Taoist mindset - or the mindset of just about any master of any tradition, once the 'personality' has been taken out of the image of god...once the structure has been transcended.

 

If there is anything to a beginning that is more enlightened than what the history books tell us, how very far we've fallen. We are split in two. This is such an ugly time for us - and yet most likely the beginning of something else - something more functional, more kind to everyone. It just feels like we're all at the edge of an abyss and it's anybody's guess how this will all come out.

 

And my honest opinion is that the ugly face of Racism is very much to blame here in the U.S. Under all the bickering, under all the division, under all the mean-spiritedness - I truly think Racism is alive and well. Even if it's called by a different name.

 

Our monument is sinking.

[Brian]

<snip>

Our monument is sinking.

 

Indeed it is.

 

I'd add that it is not just racism but a whole set of divisive "-isms" and hyphenations known by their primary promoters to have just this effect.

 

EDIT: I would also add that I don't think the founders were "enlightened" but I believe they thought deeply and displayed astounding flashes of insight -- an outstanding example is the way they ensured an end to slavery. Unfortunately, they weren't precient so they didn't foresee an opportunistic junior senator from Illinois (with secrets about his childhood) saying whatever his supporters wanted to hear and then, once elected, pushing the country into its deepest crisis to date and changing the role of the federal government in the process. It has been nearly 150 years and we still haven't recovered...

Edited June 8, 2012 by A Seeker